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Ryszard Rusinek, the council's performance officer for planning and performance, said in his written report that £364,400 in transport savings would have to be delivered over the next three years, on top of the £2.11M delivered in the last 12 months.

One of the areas singled out for possible savings is education transport, with three specific changes coming into place:

Children whose parents live at two separate addresses will only be assessed for travel assistance from one address, rather than both. This address will be chosen by the parents and will prevent empty seats

Children attending faith schools will no longer be eligible for travel assistance unless that school is their nearest or catchment school and is more than the statutory walking distance away – two miles for children aged eight and under, or three miles for children over eight

Children with temporary medical needs will now only be eligible to transport to their nearest school, rather than any school which their parents had chosen

Close up of sign at front of school bus (Image: iStockphoto)

These changes were approved by the council's children and families scrutiny committee in March following a public consultation, and will be phased in later in the year.

Mr Rusinek said: "The changes to the policy will be implemented for September this year for all new intakes.

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"Provision for students already in receipt of transport will not change until the end of year 11 unless circumstances change."

The council has said that savings will be generated incrementally, since they apply to people starting school for the first time in each year) and that the precise amount of savings will depend on the size and nature of each year's intake.

Phil Curd, the council’s service manager in charge of specialist provision, indicated in March that the changes would deliver “minimal savings” in the short term, but would “provide more flexibility and reduce cost” in future years.

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